‘The Best of Enemies’ movie films in Macon, draws midafternoon stargazers

Downtown Macon was a good spot for stargazing Thursday afternoon, and that’s exactly what 64-year-old James Linder did.

“Just to get a quick glimpse of her would be enough,” the Howard Middle School substitute teacher said, standing in the shade at First and Poplar streets.

Linder was looking for Taraji P. Henson, the star of his favorite show, “Empire,” on Fox TV. She is in town for “The Best of Enemies,” a movie filming in and around the Macon-Bibb County Government Center on Thursday and Friday.

Set in Durham, North Carolina, in the 1960s, the film stars Henson as Ann Atwater, a civil rights activist who faces off with the Ku Klux Klan in her efforts to desegregate schools.

Atwater died at age 80 last June at Duke Hospital, but her story will soon come to life on the big screen.

Atwater organized marches, set up neighborhood councils, fought for improved housing and stood up to klansmen, as author Osha Gray Davidson wrote in her book, “The Best Of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South.”

An unlikely friendship developed between Atwater and Klan leader C.P. Ellis, played by actor Sam Rockwell, after the two were appointed to lead community meetings on school desegregation, according to The News & Observer.

A protest scene was among those being filmed Thursday afternoon.

“It’s bringing a lot of interest to Macon,” Linder said of the movie and others filmed here recently. “You’ve got stars coming in here. ... It’s putting Macon on the map. That’s a good thing.”

Last month, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was in Macon making “Rampage,” a movie based on a 1980s video game that was filmed at the Middle Georgia Regional Airport.

Angie Yarbrough, an extra actor from Woodstock, was taking a smoke break with others who’d just finished eating a catered meal at the city auditorium.

She said her first experience as an extra was in “Rampage,” at a filming location in metro Atlanta in April.

“I’m actually kind of excited about this movie,” Yarbrough said. “I think that the story is, sadly, very relevant to what our current state of affairs is in our country. I’m kind of hoping that maybe having a look back at what had happened from the past may open some eyes that we’re still fighting that same battle.”

Shaune May, an extra actor who lives in Atlanta, said he is “glad to be a part of this film.”

“I’m kind of young,” he said. “I’m in my 20s and I feel like I owe it to my friends and family to be a part of something that shows the millenials and the people coming up who don’t know too much about civil rights and how it was back in the day.”

Filming is set to resume Friday from 2-5 p.m.

This story was originally published June 8, 2017 at 7:13 PM with the headline "‘The Best of Enemies’ movie films in Macon, draws midafternoon stargazers."